Report by Columbia World Projects: “Citizens cannot make active choices about what they see on social media. Independent regulators cannot hold companies accountable for their obligations under a growing number of national and regional online safety regimes. The research community — made up of academics, civil society groups and the media — cannot highlight potential deficiencies in both platform and regulatory action. Collectively, it represents a deficit in social media platform transparency and accountability that is a direct threat to individuals’ fundamental rights, as well as to wider societal democratic norms. Funders, regulators and researchers must act within the next 6-12 months to establish foundational infrastructure and standards related to social media data access. Without swift action, democratic institutions are vulnerable to the weaponization of social media platforms whose activities remain opaque and subject to potential manipulation by malign actors.
It is within this context the Columbia-Hertie initiative provides clear funding recommendations, as outlined in the chart below. At its core, this work is based on upholding the highest levels of data protection and security practices so that any form of social media data access protects the privacy rights of individual social media users — no matter where they are located. That is the guiding principle for all recommendations.
The report is divided into three sections:
1. Supporting Underlying Data Access Infrastructure
2. Building Best Practices for the Research Community
3. Fostering Researcher-Regulator Relationships
Each of these sections provide specific recommendations on how public and private funders can meet the existing opportunities within social media data access. The recommendations include which type of funder is most appropriate; how much money is required to meet the objectives; and a time-scale for results…(More)”
